New York in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

1 Wall Street / 14 Wall Street

Exploring Downtown

By Bill Coughlin, November 5, 2008

1. 1 Wall Street / 14 Wall Street Marker

Inscription. 1 Wall StreetOn one of the world’s most expensive corners – 1 Wall Street and Broadway – architect Ralph Walker conceived his zig-zag Art Deco skyscraper for the Irving Trust Company as a “curtain wall” – not the typical sheet of glass hanging from a steel cage, but a limestone wall rippling like a curtain descending on a Broadway stage.

Because of the curves in the wall, the bank doesn’t completely occupy its full building lot, and by law unoccupied and unmarked land reverts to the public – not too many square inches are left unused here, but each one is worth gold. So a slender metal line in the sidewalk makes clear who owns what.

14 Wall StreetThe Mausoleum of Halicarnassus piled on top of the bell-tower of St. Mark’s in Venice, at the corner of Wall and Broad – that’s the design concept behind 14 Wall Street. In its day the world’s tallest bank building, the 539-foot-high skyscraper originally housed the headquarters of Bankers Trust, one of the country’s wealthiest financial institutions.

Many early skyscrapers took the Venetian bell-tower as a logical model for a modern office tower, but 14 Wall Street was the first to top it off with a temple in the sky, a seven-story stepped pyramid modeled on one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

By Bill Coughlin, November 5, 2008

2. Marker in Downtown New York

Federal Hall, where George Washington was sworn in as the first president, can be seen in the background across the street from the marker.

The bank then adopted the pyramid as its trademark, and took as its slogan “A Tower of Strength.”

Instantly a standard-bearer in the fabled Downtown skyline, 14 Wall Street went on to become a widely recognized symbol of Wall Street and American capitalism.

Erected by The Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.

Location. 40° 42.435′ N, 74° 0.645′ W. Marker is in New York, New York, in New York County. Marker is at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street, on the left when traveling east on Wall Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New York NY 10005, United States of America.

This photo looks west, towards Broadway. The marker can be seen to the right of the crowded street. Trinity Church is visible at the end of Wall Street.

Several photographs appear on the marker, with captions of “The Wall Street entrance of 1 Wall Street leads into a dazzling, two-story banking hall whose ceiling sparkles in red and gold mosaics designed by Hildreth Meiore, rivaling the mosaics in the Golden Hall of Stockholm’s City Hall, and manufactured by the same company, the Revenna Mosaic Company in Berlin.” Other pictures are of The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and Wall Street from the roof of the Irving Trust Company Building, 1 Wall Street.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Take a tour of the markers in lower Manhattan erected by the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on June 6, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 1,087 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on June 6, 2009, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey.